Past, Present, and Future
by Symphony In Blue
Summary: But not necessarily in that order. A series of unconnected one-shots featuring the Doctor and River Song. Some fluff, humour, and the occasional bit of angst.
1. The Red Shoes

_Author's Note: This is the first of what I hope will become a series of unconnected one-shots featuring Eleven and River. I've got so many ideas but not a lot of time and peace of mind to write them down, so I can't promise regular updates. I've not written a lot for this fandom yet, so I hope I will do the characters justice._

_This one features an older River and a younger Doctor. This takes place sometime during series 6, but there are no real spoilers. And I am aware that I'm posting a Christmas story in the middle of summer, but it's Doctor Who so anything's possible, right?_**  
><strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The Red Shoes<strong>

River laughed out loud as she watched the Doctor trying with all his might to drag a massive Christmas tree into the sitting room. It was by far the biggest tree she had ever seen, and she wondered how he had managed to get it through the front door in the first place. This was the first time they would be spending Christmas together in both their timestreams, so both wanted to ensure that it would be a time they'd never forget.

The Doctor had suggested they'd spend the holidays on the planet Yule, where it was Christmas all year round. But River decided that it wouldn't do since it was always Christmas there, all day every day. It had become much too common there, so it wasn't special enough to mark their first time spending it together. No, she was adamant that the holiday was best celebrated on Earth, which is where they had eventually ended up. In a quaint country cottage in the 19th century to be exact. It was picturesque, idyllic, and therefore the perfect location for a romantic holiday getaway.

"You could help you know," the Doctor grumbled as he was still fighting his losing battle with the enormous tree.

River just continued to observe from a distance. "Well I didn't ask you to get such a big tree, Sweetie," she laughed. "Where did you get it from anyway?"

"Scandinavia," he answered.

She raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why?"

He simply shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, it didn't look this big when I saw it from the TARDIS."

Finally the Doctor succeeded into getting the tree into a corner of the room, and it even managed to stay upright. Well, sort of. It looked more like the leaning Tower of Pisa, but at least it wasn't falling over. Yet.

He walked over to where River was standing and wrapped his arms around her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder and together they admired his handiwork.

"I normally don't really care a lot about Christmas, but this our first, and I want it to be special," he murmured as he planted feather light kisses along her neck and jawline.

River closed her eyes and relaxed into his embrace. "I don't need a big Christmas tree to make it more special, but it's very thoughtful of you sweetie," she said.

"The only problem is," the Doctor continued, "that I've no idea how exactly a human Christmas works. We've got the tree, but what else do we need?"

River reluctantly disentangled herself from the Doctor's embrace and retrieved a large bag from the hallway. "In here are lights and decorations for the tree, some Christmas crackers, and something else that I'm sure you'll like," she said.

"What is it?" he asked, curiously.

She pulled a small package out of the bag. "Party hats," she replied, smirking.

The Doctor bounced around excitedly like a 9-year-old boy, grabbed one and immediately put it on.

"From now on I shall wear a party hat. Party hats are cool."

River rolled her eyes. She was wondering why on earth she had thought that giving him another silly hat to wear was a good idea.

"Are you happy now, sweetie?" She asked.

"Very happy," he said, bouncing towards her and kissing her excitedly. "Thank you."

* * *

><p>The rest of the afternoon was spent decorating the tree and singing the most silly, cheesy Christmas songs they could think of. For once they were spending some time together that didn't involve running for their lives on some alien planet, and River firing a lot more bullets than were strictly necessary. It was odd, and different, but not entirely unpleasant.<p>

They had a candlelit dinner, and curled up in front of the large, crackling fireplace afterwards.

Suddenly the Doctor retrieved a rectangular shaped box, seemingly out of thin air. It was wrapped in green paper and tied with a large red ribbon.

"What's this?" River asked.

"It's your present," he answered. "Open it."

"But sweetie, presents aren't usually opened until Christmas morning. It's tradition." she said.

The Doctor nodded. "I know, and we'll open the rest of the presents tomorrow. But I just wanted to give you this one tonight."

"Alright then," River smiled excitedly as she started to carefully unwrap her present. She opened the box and gasped as she lay eyes on the contents. Inside were a pair of the most beautiful stilettos she had ever seen. They were ruby red with insanely high heels, which would be a pain to walk in, but which would undoubtedly make her look extremely sexy.

"Oh sweetie, they're beautiful," she said and kissed him. "Thank you."

The Doctor was relieved that she liked them so much. He had thought long and hard about what to give her. He had decided that buying her jewellery was too common, and he didn't think adding any more to her gun collection would be such a wise idea, no matter how happy it would make her. They kept meeting in the wrong order, and he wanted to give her something meaningful, something she liked and could use, and something he would always appreciate to see her wearing, even at times when he wouldn't remember giving them to her. At the crash of the Byzantium she had worn them and, even though he hadn't known her very well at the time, and hadn't been sure whether he could trust her or not, he couldn't keep his eyes off her in her black dress and _those_ shoes. So when he started thinking about Christmas presents for River, it had suddenly dawned on him and he had known exactly what to buy.

"I'm glad you like them," he said as he pushed a curly lock of hair behind her ear.

River got up and slipped them on. They fitted perfectly.

"What do you think?" she asked as she walked around the room, trying them out.

For a moment the Doctor could do nothing but stare. The shoes showed off her shapely legs perfectly, just as he had remembered them. But of course that was all in her future, his past. "Doctor Song, you look positively stunning," he finally answered.

He got up as well, feeling the sudden urge to be near her. He drew her nearer to him, hands resting on her hips, while her hands tangled themselves in his hair at the nape of his neck.

"I wanted to give you something special, something that mattered," he said. "Think of me when you wear them, even when I may be far away from you. Wear them when you see me, even if I might not know exactly who you are, or that I was the one who gave them to you. Know that, in spite of that, I will always appreciate to see you wear them. Because I will, I promise you."

River Song didn't do crying, but she couldn't stop the tears from gathering in her eyes. "I'll wear them as often as I can, and I'll think of you, I promise," she whispered.

She closed the gap between them and kissed him passionately, and thanks to the shoes she didn't have to reach too far up for once. "I love you, sweetie," she said.

"And I love you too, Mrs. Robinson," he replied, which earned him a playful slap.

He was glad that she liked her present, and the reasoning behind it. There was a chance that he'd never get to see the shoes again. Their timestreams had started to match up more and more of late, and he had a feeling that they were approaching the most linear point of their wonky timelines. This both excited and scared him. He was excited about the time they would be linear for once, but it terrified him as well, because it meant that from that moment on he would know River more and she would know him less each time.

It was only now that he was beginning to understand what River had gone through when he had first met her, though that was another version of her, not the one whom he was holding in his arms right now. The thought of looking into River's eyes and receiving a look of confusion and distrust was probably the thing he was most terrified of in all of the universe. The only comforting thought was that _somewhere_ in time and space, this River, the one he held right now, would meet him and drive him around the bend with her mischievous grins, flirty innuendos, and spoilers. And best of all: she'd be wearing_ those_ shoes.

**Please review! xx**


	2. A Free Woman

_Well the first chapter didn't do as well as I had hoped, but thanks anyway to the people who have reviewed/alerted/favourited, it means a lot to me. I hope this next chapter will be better received than the previous one._

* * *

><p><strong>A Free Woman<strong> 

"Why Doctor Song, you don't look half bad for someone who's just been released from prison."

River turned around and showed him her trademark smirk. "Hello sweetie, fancy seeing you here."

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders as he started walking towards her. "Well I was in the neighbourhood, so I thought I'd stop by."

He snaked an arm around her waist, pulling her firmly against him and kissed her passionately.

After they pulled apart she gazed up at him, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. "It's you," she whispered. "But that's impossible."

"Now now River, you well know that nothing's impossible as long as I'm around," he replied.

She shook her head. "But you're crossing your own timestream by being here. What if you run into your younger self?"

The Doctor smiled his fiercely attractive but just slightly too cocky smile before answering her. "This is my past, so if I had been here I would have remembered. And the younger me in this time hardly knows who you are, so it's highly unlikely that he would show up."

River couldn't tell for sure, but he appeared to look guilt ridden and embarrassed as he was telling her that. Every time they met from her perspective he knew her less, and it hurt her more than she could ever put into words. But now she realised that for him, in retrospect, the realisation of how he had treated her at first, albeit unintentionally, had to be extremely painful as well.

"So how does it feel to finally be a free woman again?" he asked her.

"It feels fantastic," she sighed happily. "Our occasional adventures made prison more bearable, but it feels so good to know that I'm able to make my own decisions again and do as I please."

"Have you made any plans yet?" he asked.

"Well, you were right when you introduced me as Professor River Song at the crash of the Byzantium," she said. "Because in two weeks from now, that's what I will be."

"That's brilliant," the Doctor exclaimed as he pulled her into a hug. "I'm so proud of you."

She buried her face in his neck and inhaled his scent, the one that was so typically him. No matter which regeneration of him she encountered, he always had that distinct smell that comforted her and made her feel right at home. "Thank you," she half-whispered.

"How did you manage to get all of that done so quickly though?" he asked.

She pulled away slightly so she could look at him. "I wrote my dissertation in prison. You know, on the more boring days when you weren't stopping by for a visit. And apparently the university completely disregards the fact that I've been in prison, so they arranged for me to be promoted as soon as I got released."

"So soon you won't be able to come on adventures with me any more, because you'll be locked up in an office, being all clever and professor-y," he joked.

"Oh, I always make time for adventures, you know that." she said. "And for you of course, sweetie," she quickly added when she noticed him looking very disappointed.

His face immediately lit up again. "Great! So when do you have time off, or do you need to check your diary for that?"

She shook her head. "After I get promoted I'll be very busy planning my first big expedition. I'll need about a week for that, and then we'll be gone for about 5 days. So any time after that is fine."

"And expedition, that sounds...boring," he teased her. She knew exactly what his views on archaeologists were. "Where are you off to?"

"The Library," she answered excitedly.

His face fell the moment the words left her mouth, and though he tried to cover it up, he was sure she must've seen it. She was extremely perceptive and never missed a thing.

"What's wrong?" she asked him. "Have you ever been there?"

He nodded. "Yes, I've been there, but it was a long time ago."

"Doctor," she said sternly. "Is there anything you're not telling me."

He tapped her nose with his index finger. "Spoilers River, as you well know," he said.

She sighed. "I should've guessed, and you're right. I shouldn't have asked, I'm sorry."

"That's alright," he said, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. It was something he used to do to comfort her when she was a little girl, but at the moment it seemed that he was the one in need of comforting.

"You will come when I get promoted, won't you?" she asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Of course I will," he replied. "Wouldn't want to miss it for the world."

She smiled at him. "Good answer sweetie."

"And perhaps I could take you somewhere afterwards. You know, to celebrate," he said.

River nodded. "I'd like that very much."

"Right, that's settled then." he said. "Now, is there anywhere I can drop you off?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Home would be fine I guess," she answered. "Will you be coming with me?"

"For a while, yes," he said, "but I can't stay too long."

River sighed. Nothing was ever simple where the two of them and their wonky timelines were concerned. "I know you can't stay, and I'm not asking you to stay long. But it's my first time returning home in a very long time, and I'd rather not be alone."

"Well come along then, soon to be Professor River Song. The TARDIS is just around the corner," he said, forcing a smile.

"Lead the way," she replied, smiling back up at him.

They walked to the TARDIS arm in arm, and the Doctor couldn't help but feel that every step brought them just that much closer to the end. He knew that next time would be the last time he would ever see her. He already knew that he would take her to Dorillium. It had always been her dream to see the Singing Towers, and he couldn't let her die without fulfilling that dream. Plus she already told him in the Library that that's where they went, so he really had no choice in the matter. He would take her to Dorillium, and then he would let her leave, allowing her to go to the Library and inevitably to her death.

For a while now he had feared that the end was coming closer, but he hadn't expected it to be this soon. He wished he could do something, that he could stop it from happening. But he knew he couldn't. Surely time could be rewritten sometimes, but not these fixed moments. Plus, he had made a promise to her all those years ago, when she had him handcuffed to that railing and he hadn't had a clue who she was. The pain he saw in her eyes that day was the kind he only recently had begun to understand. The River in his timestream was very young, and every time he saw her she knew and trusted him less. And he knew that there would come a day when she didn't know him at all. And that feeling, that pain was what he had seen reflected in River's eyes on the day he first met her.

He had promised her then that he wouldn't change a thing. She had enjoyed their time spent together, even if their timelines had been going in opposite directions, and she wouldn't want to change it for the world. And nor did he, if he were completely honest with himself. They'd had some great moments together, amazing even, and he didn't want to erase or alter a single one of them.

So, as impossible and heart wrenching as it may be, he would let her go. He'd never see her again, at least not the one who knew him as well as he knew her. And it would break his heart, but he had no choice. On that day her first met her, he made her a promise. And the Doctor always kept his promises, no matter what.

**I'd love a review, they make me very happy :)**


End file.
